Standards stamped on pianist's DNA

April 16, 2006|HOWARD DUKES Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- For Bill Charlap, the music is the thing. Charlap, who performs with his trio Friday at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts, knows there's a temptation to put some kind of flourish on a standard. That way, a song such as "A Foggy Day" might stand out from the hundreds of versions that preceded it. Charlap resists that temptation. "I just try to do the songs in an honest way," he says. "I don't try to make them different. If it stands out, I'm glad." Charlap says standards offer so much in terms of lyrics and melodic structure that performers usually find something that audiences will find interesting. Charlap says he has no formula for making a song from the Great American Songbook his own. "I just play them as I hear them," he says. These days, Charlap and his trio are best known for taking on the music of George Gershwin. That's the territory Charlap's trio entered with his 2005 CD, "Bill Charlap Plays George Gershwin: The American Soul." Charlap's understanding and love of the music stand out on this recording. Indeed, it can be said that the standard repertoire is imprinted in Charlap's DNA. His father is the late Broadway composer Mark "Moose" Charlap, who co-wrote the music for the Broadway version of "Peter Pan." Charlap's mother, singer Sandy Stewart, sang with Benny Goodman's band. "I used to hear theater music at home, and my mom often sang the songs my dad wrote," Charlap says. "And as you can see, a great deal of what I play today is from the repertoire of American musical theater." Some people decide they never want to hear another standard or show tune after hearing them for so long. Charlap says he enjoys the songs for the same reason thousands of music lovers of all ages do. "Because they are well written, structurally sound and melodically strong," he says. Those songs are on the program for Friday, Charlap says, but they're not all the audience will hear. "Our book has over 150 songs," he says. The music runs the gamut from standards to hard bop. "We could play anything," Charlap says, "from (Thelonious) Monk to (Cole) Porter." Staff writer Howard Dukes: hdukes@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6369